Mitch was at a bit of a loss to figure out where to take Belle on their non-date. Given how determined she’d been to make sure he understood it wasn’t a date, he couldn’t very well turn around and take her to a super romantic restaurant. So it would have to be a place where they could talk but not be too intimate.
“How about Montana’s or Boston Pizza?” Gabe asked. “I don’t think anyone would class those as super romantic even though they can be good places to go on a date.”
“It’s not like I’m going to take her to McDonald’s or Burger King,” Mitch said as he spun his nearly empty mug of coffee around on the breakfast nook table at his family home. This was hard for him. If he could have planned a date, he wouldn’t have had a difficult time coming up with a romantic place to take Belle. However, being curtailed by her adamant insistence that it wasn’t a date was making the decision that much more challenging. “She’s going to have to accept some level of adult dining without attaching too much significance to it.”
“I’ve always liked those places where they stir-fry the food you choose. There are a few of them in the city.”
Mitch recalled going to one not far from the office, and he had enjoyed it. Maybe Belle would as well. Though it was no doubt a good date restaurant, he’d gone there with people from the office so it might work for their non-date.
“Thanks for the suggestions,” Mitch said as he drained the remainder of the coffee in his mug, shuddering a bit at its lukewarm temperature. “Maybe I should just let Belle pick the place.”
“That would be easier,” Gabe agreed.
It might be easier, but it grated against what Mitch wanted for their evening together. However, more than romantic, he realized that he wanted a place that was conducive to conversation between the two of them. He wanted to get to know Belle more, especially since she was determined that they weren’t dating and, unless Mitch had misread her, they never would.
“I think I’ll suggest a couple of places and see what she prefers.”
“You always were the more accommodating one of us.”
“And yet Maya still preferred you,” Mitch pointed out.
“Don’t say that like it bothers you,” Gabe said as he tossed a balled-up napkin at his twin. “You told me you weren’t interested in her anyway.”
Mitch shrugged. Gabe wasn’t wrong. When they’d first met, he’d found the reserved woman with the exotic appearance to be interesting, but not in a romantic way. Which was just as well because even if he’d been interested in her romantically, the minute Gabe showed up on the scene, it would have been game over for him.
After rinsing his mug and putting it in the dishwasher, Mitch said goodbye to Gabe and then went to find his parents sitting on the wide back veranda of the house and said the same to them. He’d stayed a bit longer than he’d planned, talking with Gabe, but now he needed to head out since he still had work in the morning.
Once he got home, Mitch sent Belle a text as he waited for another cup of coffee to brew in his Keurig.
I’m considering Boston Pizza or Mongo’s. Do you have a preference? I’m fine with either one.
He set his phone down as the coffee finished filling his mug. Having caffeine this late at night probably wasn’t his best idea, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to have much impact on his ability to sleep. As he sipped the hot beverage, he flipped through the mail he’d pulled from his mailbox earlier.
He didn’t receive much of significance in his mailbox anymore. He’d gone to electronic bills for the most part, and it was rare that someone mailed him anything else. When his phone chirped, he set the last of the flyers down on his counter and picked up his phone.
Belle: I’ve eaten at Boston Pizza recently. Never been to Mongo’s, but it sounds interesting.
So you’re up for Mongo’s at six?
Belle: Yep. Sounds good.
Looking forward to it. See you then.
He would have been surprised if Belle had responded to his last text, but he was still a bit disappointed when she didn’t. Mitch knew he was setting himself up for disappointment by pursuing a friendship with Belle. But maybe he’d discover things that would dull his fascination with her. Maybe by the end of the renovations, he’d be happy to call her friend and leave it at that.
In the meantime, they were going to have dinner together.
Even though Belle knew that her mother and sisters would frown in disapproval of her attire, she really didn’t care. This wasn’t a date. She wasn’t trying to impress Mitch Callaghan. It was just a dinner out between business acquaintances who might become friends.
Still, she had chosen a pair of nicer jeans that fit her well, leaving the faded, baggy ones in the closet. She’d paired the dark blue jeans with a pale pink T-shirt with a V-neck. The silver necklace she’d chosen had a small locket and had been a gift from her dad. The small heart-shaped earrings were a gift from Ariel the previous Christmas. Around her wrist was the charm bracelet her mom had given her as a teen and then had added to over the years.
In the small foyer of her apartment, she slipped her feet into a pair of sandals and grabbed her purse and keys from the narrow table in the hallway. The restaurant was about twenty minutes away, so she had given herself half an hour to make the drive. Even though she’d never been to Mongo’s before, Jasmine and Rory both had been, and they had seemed to like it.
She hadn’t bothered to tell anyone in her family about her da—no, her dinner plans with Mitch. They would just read too much into it. And rightfully so. It wasn’t as if she made a practice of going to dinner with single men. If she had made it a practice, she wouldn’t be hiding it from her family.
As she drove through the streets, Belle had to wonder again why she’d said yes to Mitch. While she wasn’t interested in a relationship, she had to admit that after listening to him speak with her mom, she was curious about him and his family.
Although, if she was honest, her curiosity about him had started when he showed up to a wedding planning meeting with his brother’s fiancée. Not many guys would have been willing to do that. It wasn’t often she met single men in her line of work. Most often the men who showed up at the business were either there because they were footing the bill for the wedding and were giving the bride away, or they were going to be marrying the bride. Fathers and grooms were about the extent of the male presence in the bridal boutique.
The new bridal boutique probably had more men in it at the moment, working on the renovations, than it would ever have in the future. She wondered if Mitch would one day be back in the bridal shop as a groom, and if so, what his fiancée would be like. She knew that Ariel and Aurora had different tastes in men, so she wondered if that was true for Mitch and Gabe as well.
Her thoughts were still circling around Mitch’s choice of a woman when she pulled into the parking lot. It took a couple of minutes to find a parking spot, and she hoped the restaurant wasn’t too busy. She hated having to wait for seating when she was hungry and could smell all the appetizing food.
When Belle pulled the door to the restaurant open, a wave of aromatic warmth greeted her along with a cheer. Thinking the cheer must have been for a party or something, she looked around the room, but then another loud cheer came from the circular cooking area in the center of the restaurant.
Smiling, Belle looked at the hostess who was standing behind a narrow podium to her left. The woman returned her smile as she lifted a menu from the stand in front of her.
“Just one?”
“No. I’m meeting someone. There will be two of us.”
“What’s the name?”
“Uh…mine or his?” Belle pulled her phone out, planning to text Mitch to find out if he was there already.
“His. We do have one gentleman who is waiting for the rest of his party.”
“Okay. It’s Mitch Callaghan.”
“Yes. He’s here already. Please follow me.”
The hostess turned around and led the way behind a bar to the left of the entrance. The wall was lined with tables that had booth-style seating on one side with pub height chairs on the other. Belle immediately spotted Mitch, feet resting on the rungs of his chair, head bent over his phone. He glanced up as Belle slipped between two tables to settle on the bench seat opposite him.
Straightening, Mitch smiled as he slid his phone into his pocket. “Hey. Good to see you.”
“You too.” She set her purse on the seat but didn’t say anything else as a waitress stepped into the space between the tables and greeted them.
The young woman explained the process then took their drink orders before leaving them alone.
“So we just go up?” Belle asked.
“Yep. I can give you some tips if you’ve never been to a place like this before,” Mitch said. “I’ve been several times, so I’ve had some hits and some misses.”
“I like stir-fry, and it smells great,” Belle said, her stomach rumbling in anticipation. Thankfully, between the music and conversation going on around them, it didn’t appear Mitch heard the rumbling, or maybe he was just gentleman enough not to say anything about it.
“Well, let’s go and see what kind of damage we can do.”
Belle liked the sound of that and quickly slid off the seat, taking a step down to bring her to Mitch’s side. He stayed close to her, explaining how best to fill the bowl to maximize space since she didn’t plan to return for a second bowl of food. Before long, they were standing at the circular cooking station, and their food had been dumped on a large round grill.
She watched as the young men surrounding the grill wielded long metal paddle looking utensils. They worked the food back and forth, shooting extra moisture on the grill occasionally which caused it to sizzle and steam.
The place was filled with a cacophony of smells and noises. She’d half expected Mitch to try for a more intimate setting despite her insistence on this not being a date. Though the place was interesting and allowed for conversation, she wouldn’t have considered it a romantic place for a date. She appreciated that he’d listened to her.
Once back at the table, Belle noticed their drinks had been delivered. She set her plate of stir-fry down along with the bowl of rice she’d requested. Mitch did the same, and then once they were both seated, he said grace.
“Tasty?” Mitch asked once she’d taken a couple of bites.
She wondered what he’d do if she said she didn’t like it. She actually did, but he seemed so concerned she couldn’t help but think he might seriously get her a whole new plate. “It’s very tasty. Just the right amount of heat. I can handle spicy, but I prefer my food a little less so.”
“Yeah, me too. Gabe, however, likes food that sets his tongue on fire.” Mitch shuddered. “I like to be able to taste my food. Eating the way he does would guarantee I wouldn’t be able to taste anything for at least twenty-four hours.”
Belle grinned. “That’s Ariel in our family. Of course, the girl only eats one meal every couple of days, so I suppose it’s no loss to not be able to taste food for a day or two.”
Mitch’s brows rose at the statement. “Really? I mean, I know she’s a model, but does she really eat that little.”
Shrugging, Belle took another bite. “It sure seems like it. The ridiculous thing is that she and Rory are still basically the same size, and yet I know Rory enjoys her food. So one would think that Ariel could too.” She tilted her head, letting her gaze drift over Mitch’s face and what she could see of his figure. “Is it the same for you and Gabe?”
“I’m not sure. We don’t really compare how much we weigh or things like that. I do know that we are active in different ways. I’m more active in my job, so I tend to just do some running on a treadmill and lifting weights. Gabe, on the other, tends to be into things like rock climbing. Of course, that was prior to his accident. Since then, he’s relied on physical therapy and working with a personal trainer for exercise.”
She was aware of the accident Gabe had been in. They had mentioned it on their very first visit with her, uncertain if it might play a role in the wedding ceremony since Gabe’s ability to stand for a long period of time might be an issue.
“So basically, I have no idea if identical twins would have the same metabolism throughout their lives.” Mitch smiled briefly. “Often I forget that we’re identical twins. I mean, I’m closer to him than any of my other brothers, but I don’t look at him and think, hey, he looks just like me.”
“Well, he doesn’t look just like you,” Belle said.
Mitch let out a huff of laughter. “Gabe reminds me of that all the time.”
“What do you mean?”
“He always says he’s the better-looking twin.”
Belle laughed at that. “You don’t look that different, that one of you could actually be considered better looking. I’d say your main difference is in personality.”
A grimace passed across Mitch’s face before he nodded. “Yep. That too.”
“I swear…siblings. I think they were created to keep us humble or drive us insane.”
Mitch’s expression relaxed into a grin. “Depending on the day, my siblings do both.”
“Yep. I hear you.”
Belle indulged her curiosity and asked more questions about his family. She’d always thought her family of five siblings was larger than average. It was, of course, but a family with ten kids—even if it was a blended family—was practically unheard of.
Inevitably, their conversation turned from families to the family businesses, which were now intertwined because of the renovation. As they talked, Belle got the feeling that Mitch was much happier in his position at his family’s business than she was in hers.
“Have you always wanted to work in construction?” Belle asked.
“Not really. I mean, I didn’t really think much about it at all. It wasn’t until I was in my teens and started to help my dad during the summer that I discovered I liked working with my hands. Tearing things down and then building them up again. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I didn’t anticipate that I’d eventually manage that side of the business.”
“The renovation side?”
“The construction side, in general. With the help of Mark, I manage several crews who work on both new builds and renovations.”
“But you do more than just manage the crews, right? You were actually working on the renovation.”
“Yeah. I like the hands-on side of things, so I do try to jump in whenever time allows. I begin to miss the physical labor after a while if all I’m doing is paperwork and dealing with issues.” Mitch paused. “Do you just work as a wedding planner or is there another part of the business you also enjoy? That you jump into for a change of scenery?”
Belle twirled her fork in the noodles in her bowl, considering her response to Mitch’s question. She looked up to find him watching her, his blue gaze focused.
“Not particularly. The most I do involving the wedding dresses is to work with Jasmine to order the dresses for the next season. I don’t really have the patience like Jasmine does to work with brides who want to try on a million dresses before choosing the first one they tried on. Working in that environment would only add to my stress level, trust me.”
Mitch grinned. “I can imagine. Is that the only other area of the business?”
“Well, there are alterations, but there is no way our head seamstress would let me anywhere near a sewing machine.” Belle laughed then paused. “Actually, at one time, I used to love working with the brides trying on the dresses. Helping them find the perfect dress was a challenge I loved. However, I was a teen then, so I never really did that on my own. I helped my mom find the dresses she wanted the bride to try on and then I would help dress them. After…university, I found that I didn’t have the patience I once had to work with wishy-washy brides, and I had absolutely zero tolerance for the bridezillas.”
“Where do you see the business in…say…ten years?”
With someone else running it was the first thought that went through her mind, but it wasn’t what she said. “I would hope that I’ve been able to hire a few dependable planners to help out. I’m anticipating that the move to a larger building will bring in growth that will necessitate hiring more staff.”
“Do you think Jasmine will continue to work in the business?”
“I certainly hope so. I don’t think Mom would be happy if either of the top two positions in the company were filled by anyone other than family.”
“Do you like what you do?” Mitch asked. “I mean, you seem very good at what you do, but that doesn’t always mean you enjoy it.”
Truer words had never been spoken. “I am good at what I do, and I do enjoy the organizational side of it. Making sure that everything is in order for a wedding. Ensuring that the event goes off flawlessly.”
“So what don’t you enjoy? The long hours?”
“Oh, I don’t really mind those so much, to be honest. I like keeping busy.” Belle took a bite of her food, taking her time chewing and swallowing before sipping from her glass. “I do the best when brides come in with a definite idea of what they want, and yet, I still need them to be flexible in their ideas. The most challenging brides are the ones who come in with impossible plans and won’t budge an inch. Those ones…they make me hate my job and make me want to pull my hair out.”
“That would be a shame,” Mitch said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Oh, I don’t know. Just think of the time I’d save if I didn’t have to worry about doing my hair every day. Not to mention the money I’d save on hair products, and cuts and colors every couple of months. Might not be such a bad thing.”
Mitch’s brows rose slightly as he stared at her then he shook his head. “Just can’t picture it.”
The two of them laughed then, and Belle breathed a sigh of relief as they moved on from the subject of work.